Thailand urged to be a standards leader
July 28, 2008
Thailand urged to be a standards leader
(Bangkok Post (Thailand) (KRT) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Jul. 28 — Thailand is being urged to upgrade itself as the leader in determining safety standards and relevant laws on food and agricultural products in order to surmount business challenges arising from free trade area agreements.
"Under the free trade area agreements, it is probable that in the future more and more countries will get together to form their own market blocs and adopt identical trade and production regulations in the manner of One World, One Law, One Standard," said Pornsil Patcharintanakul, deputy secretary-general of the Thai Chamber of Commerce.
"Thailand needs to prepare itself to see which products will get benefits from the pacts and which products will see higher competition and trade disadvantages. And as the world’s leading producer and exporter of food and farm products, we should set safety standards and laws for others to pursue."
According to Mr Pornsil, Thailand is well-placed to see export growth, particularly in food and agricultural products to Japan and South Korea.
Thai businesses should prepare for increased challenges caused by more free trade agreements, particularly related to Asean and Japan and South Korea, said Deputy Commerce Minister Viroon Tejapaibul.
The Asean-Japan FTA was agreed on in April, while the Asean-South Korea agreement is expected to take effect within this year, he said.
Asean and Seoul started FTA talks in 1995 and the agreements were signed with Asean members except for Thailand in May 2006 and took effect in July 2006.
Thailand resisted signing the Asean-Korea FTA over differences in the treatment of certain agricultural products, particularly rice and livestock, by Seoul.
After almost a year of negotiations, Thailand concluded talks with South Korea under the Asean-Korea free trade agreement (AKFTA) in December of last year after Seoul allowed an extension for import tariff reductions on Thai goods from 2010-12 to 2016-17.
Thai items given extensions for tax cuts and/or waivers include steel and steel products, cosmetics, raw hides, tanned leather and leather goods.
Other products that would benefit from Seoul’s tariff cuts include electrical appliances, particle board, plywood, cane molasses, yarn, frozen shrimp, tapioca starch and squid.
South Korea is Thailand’s eighth-largest trade partner, with bilateral trade value of nearly US$7 billion.
